I dreamed that we were going on a cruise, my mother, brother, roommate, and I. For some reason, this cruise ship had designated "key keeper," people who held the keys to the outside decks so no one could go out without one of them opening the door.

This cruise took place in Alaska, but the water was tropically clear. I was standing on the top deck watching the water and we motored by, and there was one really really shallow spot, we're talking like maybe two feet. The boat had to be drawing at least sixty feet of water, yet we didn't get stuck, we just bumped the bottom a little.

That little bit was enough to put us ashore for a while, though, while they tried to fix the props or the rudder.

We went ashore and suddenly it became some sort of scouting mission. Keely had remained aboard ship, as she was a key keeper, and mom and Charley were somewhere else on the island. (Yes, it was an island, a really big one.)

I was with this group of cub scouts or something, and we were suddenly in my neighborhood back home, but with no houses. We knew that wolves were the dominant life form on the island, and if they liked us they might help us, because we were lost.

All of a sudden, there was a roaring sound and a black bear crashed out of the brush and onto the trail behind us. The scouts and their leader and I all scrambled up trees, but the trees were merely saplings so we weren't very far up. The bear wanted me, and he was crazed. He kept trying to climb my sapling but it was too small for him to sink his claws into, and it was swaying too violently. He was roaring and swiping at me...black bears aren't very big but standing on his hind feet he was ALMOST tall enough to reach me, but not quite.

Whenever the tree swayed, I managed to grab one of the more steady trees and hold myself there long enough for him to try to climb my tree again, then I would let go and the sapling would snap back to its original position, shaking him off. Finally, he gave up and trundled back into the brush, roaring mournfully.

Then, a wolf came by. The wolves, it seems, weren't too happy about humans invading their island. This one was only there briefly, she wanted to see us for herself. She was the pack leader, and after talking to me a bit, she informed me her name was Pickles (though afterward I was, for some reason, calling her Kiki) but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone else.

Then she left and another female came, and made like she was going to attack us, but I was aggressive right back to her and it made her respect me. She told me her name, too, but I've forgotten it. I asked her if she would take a message to my mother (who was maybe half a mile away, but it would have taken me two days to get to her) and she agreed, so I scribbled some birthday greetings on a scrap of paper and gave it to her. She said that the wolves would always be willing to help me, should I need it.

There was something else, too...involving a lobby and a concession stand and someone hogging the bathroom, but I've forgotten.